Technology jobs site Dice.com reported late last week that technology pay was up again last year, with IT professionals earning an average annual salary of $89,450, an increase of 2 percent over 2013. More than half of these professionals – 61 percent – earned higher salaries in 2014, mainly though merit raises. Another 25 percent said they received higher pay by changing employers. Thirty-seven percent of tech professionals polled said they received a bonus last year, slightly more than the 34 percent in 2013.

Technical recruiters salaries jumped as well, by 19 percent to an average of $81,966, demonstrating the importance of identifying and bringing on technical professionals, Dice.com said.

Dice gathered its data by surveying 23,470 technology professionals online between late September and late November.

“As demand for technology professionals rises and highly skilled talent is harder to find, the pressure is being reflected where it counts: paychecks,” said Shravan Goli, president of Dice.com said in a statement released by the company. “Still, tech pros are less happy with their earnings, signaling to companies that in order to recruit and retain the best candidates, offering more will be necessary."

Despite the news on salary increases, satisfaction with wages declined. Fifty-two percent of professionals were satisfied with their compensation last year, down from 54 percent the prior year. Satisfaction with wages has dipped annually since 2012, Dice.com said.

Dice also said tech professionals are more confident that they can find a new position; 37 percent anticipate changing employers this year for improvements in pay or conditions. But with pay rising, professionals are slightly less likely to relocate to a new job in 2015.

Big data and cloud computing professionals earn the highest paychecks, Dice.com said. “Cloud is not new to the tech world but as more companies — large and small — adopt the technology, tech professionals with this experience will enjoy opportunities,” said Goli. “Big data made a big showing last year and we’re seeing it this year, too."

Regionally, the Pacific region has the highest salaries, with professionals in Silicon Valley earning an average of $112,610, a 4 percent climb year-to-year. The second-highest-paid region is Seattle, with average salaries of $99,423, an increase of 5 percent in 2014. Sacramento technology salaries rose 14 percent to $96,788, while salaries in Portland were $91,556 – an uptick of 9 percent. In San Diego, tech salaries ascended 4 percent to $94,121.

Other markets with above-average pay increases included Boston and Chicago, with salaries rising 3 percent year-to-year to $97,288 and $88,866 respectively. In Dallas and New York, average pay increased 2 percent respectively to $91,674 and $95,586. Washington, DC, salaries in technology rose only 1 percent, to $98,323.

Dice.com’s findings were similar to those by Janco Associates and eJobdescription.com, whose recently released 2015 Salary Survey found hiring and salaries have improved for IT in most North American metropolitan areas. “For the first time in over six years salaries for IT pros have moved up almost across the board,” Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis said. “We believe that this is due to the fact that over 112,000 new IT jobs were created in the last 12 months and that the economy seems to be in a recovery mode.”

This story, "IT jobs outlook: High demand, higher salaries" was originally published by
InfoWorld.